October-November Bass

[Maximum12]

I've been reading the bass board all month but I'm stumpted.

I can't catch a bass once I turn the calendar to October - not this year, nor last, nor the year before (unless you count the four-incher yesterday).

I generally fish around St. Paul - Lake Johanna is a place where I know some big bass lurk in the spring, summer & fall, but seem to have gone extinct the last month. Rather than list everything I've tried (most of my tackle, shallow, deep, humps, weeds, etc.) I'm wondering if y'all plainly knowledgeable folk who can catch nice bass in this season can give me some generalities. I've run out of (intelligent) things to try.

[Deitz Dittrich]

Maximum-

Dont give up my FM brother. There are fish out there to be caught. This time of the year you need to find green weeds. Areas where the deep water comes closest to shore on inside turns often will hold green weeds the longest. Points will sometimes hold green weeds longer as well. Lillypads will often hold on longer than many weeds too.

So, tie a jig on one rod. A rat-l-trap on another, A spinnerbait on a third rod and MOST IMPORTANTLY a deeper running crankbait on a rod with braid line on it.

I catch most of my early winter bass here in the midwest on semiclear to clear waters throwing deep crankbaits on braid line. Position your boat over the GREEN[b/] weeds and cast at a 45 degree angle out to the deeper water. Reel slowly till your bait comes in contact with the weeds. At that point let it sit for a seccond.. then rip it out with a violent snap of the rod.. let it sit a sec again.. then reel it down again till it contacts the weeds... WIth the presentation its important to use a boyant bait, not a suspending crank.

Then after that hasn't worked.. probe shorline weeds lillypads, with a spinnerbait and jigs... and fish the ratl-trap much like a jig around shorline green weeds...

GOOD LUCK MAXIMUM... let us know if you have any better luck!

[Granny]

Exude, Dan, Andy, or any other crank masters out there,

What is considered a shallow or deep running crank in terms of depth? I picked up an assortment of cranks that run from 1-4' a couple months ago but never put them in the water until last sunday. Got my first bass off of a 4' running crank! Great now I need two more rods in the boat.

Is the technique of ripping the crank through the weeds effective all year round or is it most usefull when the weeds are weak and dying off such as this time of year?

Granny

[Maximum12]

Thanks for the tips Exudedude! I haven't tried ripping off the remaining wees with cranks, although I've heard of other people doing it - I'll give that a shot. And I don't have any rattletraps, so that'll give me an excuse to make a late-season trip to the money-sucking store of many lures.

I'm hoping to get out tomorrow ~ I'm going to start testing then!

[Deitz Dittrich]

Granny- No I would not consider a 4' running crankbait a deep running crankbait. I would call something that runs in the depth of 10-15 or more a deep running crankbait. Rapala DT16, Norman Deep N or DD22, Bandit 300, Poes 400, Excaliber Fat Free Shad... are all great deep running crankbaits.

Shallow cranks are great for the fall too.. but weed rippin can really put some fish in the boat before ice up.. its also an effective pattern all year round.! give it a try!

Maximum-glad I was able to help. thats what this board is about.. people helping people.. Hopefully some day you can share a tip with myself or someone that will help them!

[Maximum12]

Exudedude, tried the ripping method Wed (they weren't touching spinnerbaits) & caught no bass - but the northern sure were loving it, plus a bonus 23" walleye. As long as it puts nice size fish in the boat this time of year, I barely care what they are!

Thanks!

[Lost]

Maximum... congrats!

[Deitz Dittrich]

maximum- Thats great, glad you got some fish. Too bad the bass didn't cooperate. Try and remember that this is a finess type presentation. Try and fish it as slow as painfully possible. Once you feel weeds let it sit for a few seconds.. then rip it and let the bait float up for a few seconds, then reel it down so you hit weeds again. To do this you will need a crankbait that will dive much deeper than the cover is.

Congrats again, youve found a new way to catch fish!

[cheektowaga]

Was out Friday for about 3 hours in the afternoon and fished spinners and the cranks equally in areas where I could still find green weeds. Which I was surprised to have found so many still alive!! Landed 8 bass, 4 on each technique. 6 were in the 15-16" range, 2 were 19", some really fun fish! Nothing was hitting shallow, just off of the 8-12 foot weedlines.

This was the first time I had bass fished open water this late in the year and was very pleased with the results. Got some strange looks from some of the people on shore wearing blaze, but after setting a hook they seem to understand. Good luck this weekend guys!

[Granny]

Cheektowaga,

Good to hear you found some bass!

I got a few strange looks while filling up with gas on saturday with the boat behind me. The wife and I went out after morning stand and boated around 10-12 bass with one in the 19" range. The sun was bright and the water was very clear. We caught fish on spinnerbaits, cranks, Magic Stiks, and tubes. This was the first time in a month or so that I have had any luck on tubes & Magic Stiks. I put on a 3/4 oz bullet sinker and moved the tube quickly along the bottom. This is how we caught most of our fish. I think the bright sun pushed the bass into deeper water.

Granny

[cheektowaga]

Glad to hear somebody else made it out and had a successful trip. Judging by the weather it may be all over for this guy.

Tubes Huh? I was going to give that a try but time was limited and I was having some luck with cranks and spinners. Should have tied one on I guess.

[Maximum12]

Cheek & Granny, nice bass!

One question: are y'all working bigger lakes? I'm wondering if my lack of success has something to do with the fact that I work smaller lakes this time of year (mostly less than 200 acres, sometimes a lot less) or I'm just an [commercial-or-naughty-word]. I'm having success with other species, just no bass in the last, oh, six weeks or so.

[Granny]

Maximum12,

Most of the lakes I fish are under 500 acres with most of them 300 or smaller. I have had less success in darker water this fall. Not sure if it has to do with the lack of weed growth or what. Deep water has been a key factor in bass location. Either the bass have been on deep weedlines or in shallow water with deep water close by. What types of baits have you been using?

Granny

[cheektowaga]

The lake I fish is about 135 acres so it's not large by any means. It's made up of a lot of points, humps, shelves etc though that makes it fairly easy to target fish this time of year. I just did what everyone in this forum has said, "fish the green weeds," and this lake is still holding plenty. One thing I have been doing is fishing much more slowly and methodically.

[cheektowaga]

So I can't seem to shake the bass season yet for some reason. Calling all late season pros: when is it too late? Late this week/weekend we're looking at highs in the mid thirties and lows in the teens. Do late season trends continue until ice-over? Does a guy have a chance in that cold weather?

[Deitz Dittrich]

Cheek-I have caught bass when I used the boat to bust up a thin crust of ice before I could fish the area.. So, yes.. its only too late when you can no longer launch the boat at the boat landing...

On a side note to all of you that are fishing this late... Please be smart.., there is no reason to not wear your life jacket at ALL TIMES

A fall in at this time to lead to death quite quickly!

[BigMike]

VERY good point Exude. Life vests are very important this time of year, especially when fishing alone.

Another tip for those fishing this late would be to watch the air temps. If you hit the water, be sure to drain all the excess water - if the air temp dips below freezing over night - you could have a potential problem on your hands.

[Ole the Guide]

Hi,

I'm a bass-aholic! That being said I've been having great luck the past few weeks! The big Females are hitting hard and won't let go! It's great that everyone is deer and duck hunting as it seems to be little or no traffic on the lakes!

If you're wondering about hanging it up for the year, Exude has the right idea, they bite up until ice-up! I think we'll be able to make it till Dec. 1rst this year.

Last Tuesday myself and two others caught about 35-40 bass and , I'd say half were over 4lbs.! Seven were over 5lbs. with two at 5.8. I'm sworn to secrecy as to where we were. I can tell you it was west of the Cities and it was an awesome day. The temp hit 60 degrees. Who'd a thunk it?

I'm going again Tuesday and hope to have another awesome day, good Lord willing!

I'll let you know how we did!

Ole

[PERCHJR]

Hey Ole, talked to the Kid, tonight and he told me the good news, sounds like a blast even though they were just BASS!!!HEHE!!! Maybe we can hook up this winter, and catch some jumbo perch, I'll just be sitting here waiting for the ice!!! Catch yah later!!!

[Ole the Guide]

Hey there SD,

Sounds good to me! Maybe I can get out there this winter.

Take care,

Ole

[EBass]

The bite on the river has been great as well.

[Ole the Guide]

Hi everyone,

We went out Tuesday and it was supposed to be sunny and 58 degrees. Well, the fog kept us at about 45-50 degrees. The water temp dropped from 47 (a week ago) to 41-42 degrees. The bass were slowing down but we managed a dozen nice ones and one Northern. Biggest was 5.5 lbs. Can't complain about that! I think it's just about the end for me and the boat for this year. Time to pull out the ice shack.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Ole

[spasticcp]

I've just gotten back into fishing starting in Sept after years of slacking, and I've found one lake that's been good to me lately. Coon Lake, up in the East Bethel area. The only predator fish that aren't rough fish are largemouth and northerns (and an abundance of northerns). But here's the kicker. 99% of the fish I've caught this year have been from shore since right now I don't own a boat. Not only that, but I've been catching them with simple bobber fishing with fatheads. The trick is, I put a 1/4 oz sinker on, and set my depth about 5 feet, then HEAVE that sucker out. You can usually get a good 30-40 yard cast with the extra weight. I pretty much come out with 1 or 2 3lb'ers after about 2 hours of shore fishing. One of the last outings I hooked a 5.3lb monster, about 20" set exactly how I stated above. They start biting usually in the late afternoon as the sun starts to go down. And if you're willing to stay out a little later, they come in even closer. I actually hooked (and lost) into Old Straighthook about 3 feet from shore when I was fixing a tangle in my line. But that's a story for another time...(and it might even be a good one once I've had some more time to embelish).

[Deitz Dittrich]

Welcome to FishingMinnesota.Com Spasticcp- Greaet to have you on board and in the bass forum...

When you have time go ahead and post that story about ole' straight hook. I would love to hear about it.

[delmuts]

me too! i've got time to read!! del